Dracula The Play Review – Richmond Theatre

Dracula is one of those classic stories that many of us have never read and yet know the story regardless. But what if Bram Stoker’s story is not one of fiction and instead is more factual. When James Gaddas comes across Bram Stoker’s original handwritten notes, what he reads chills him to the bone. In this one man show Gaddas brings to life the original version before sharing his own personal discovery. And hopes to leave the audience asking the question are some things better left buried?

James Gaddas was asked to take part in a tv documentary to ‘discover’ Dracula, comparable to formats like Finding Bigfoot. The show’s intention was to follow the crew’s attempts at following leads and lines of enquiry to ‘finding’ proof of Dracula’s existence. It was taking part in the show that led Gaddas to read Bram Stoker’s original handwritten book notes. And without giving too much away it implied that the story produced was laced more in fact than it was fiction.

There is no doubt that James Gaddas is a talented actor as he seamlessly took on the role of 15 characters. The man has a gift for accents and easily blended from one tone to another bringing the storytelling to life. However, I did struggle at first to keep up with which characters were which. James switched between Bram Stoker’s story and his own experiences, and it was hard to keep them separate at times. I did manage to get better acquainted with the characters and timelines eventually though.

The set: filled corkboards, a desk, some trunks, an armchair, was simple but effective for the storytelling. Sitting further back you would not have seen all the information on the corkboards, but it was explained well enough to not be a concern. The music and visual effects were used well in setting the mood and portraying a spooky atmosphere. Gaddas brought light humour to the piece but in the right way that worked within the storytelling.

The show was an interesting and different take on the infamous story. I was slightly disappointed with the ending and “big reveal” though but don’t want to give anything away. I just felt it took away from the work put in to create the creepy and serious mood at Richmond Theatre. I do have an idea for a better ending so if the director wants to get in touch I’ll wait for your call. I did come away with questions though, and yes, one of them was are some things better left buried?

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